


Mend Your Heart (Let’s Make The Road Up As We Go Along)

by SoldierOfMyShadowyMind



Series: I Won't Fall When You're Shook [7]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Eddie Brock Human Disaster, Falling In Love, Fluff, Inspired by Fanart, Jealousy, Love Confessions, Other, Pining, Possessive Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Protective Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Romance, Sharing a Body, clumsy Eddie, oblivious eddie, using Tony Stark’s nanotechnology as an excuse is so unbelievable Eddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 15:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16477865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoldierOfMyShadowyMind/pseuds/SoldierOfMyShadowyMind
Summary: His brain catching up with the situation, Eddie scrambles for words, “I have a p—”Possessive alien boyfriendcomes to mind instead of his usual excuse – Venom still takes offence at being (very lovingly) called a parasite – but that doesn’t quite hit the mark. And— hold that thought.Without warning, the structure over his head bursts like a punctured balloon and Venom flees under the safe cover of Eddie’s hoodie. Rain washes down on him and the cold rush catapults Eddie back into reality and he holds his hands up in apology, still processing the terribly timed epiphany, stammering, “…problem with my… nanotechnology experiment.”





	Mend Your Heart (Let’s Make The Road Up As We Go Along)

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by [petite-madame's](http://petite-madame.tumblr.com/) brilliant and wonderful [artwork](http://petite-madame.tumblr.com/post/179117413841/good-evening-maam-eddie-and-venom-2018-its) on tumblr! I am in love with this piece and just had to write something. (Venom moulding himself into an umbrella to keep Eddie from being soaked by the rain, come on.) Here you go, have some more jealous, pining Venom and slightly confused, oblivious Eddie, one convenient package of sap.
> 
> First part of the title shamelessly borrowed from Rihanna’s _Umbrella_. I couldn’t resist, sorry. (Bracketed part from a-ha’s _White Canvas_.)

“You just had to sabotage it, didn’t you?” Eddie sighs, too resigned to be angry. He throws one last glance over his shoulder before he lets the door swing shut and starts down the street, leaving the low jazzy music and warm lights of the bar behind. “That was the first third date I had in months.” Eddie buries his hands in his pockets and hunches his shoulders against the wind. The year’s getting on in months, a few weeks and the trees will be bare and the air icy cold. Which reminds him, he should buy a new coat. The last one had gotten… lost on last week’s meal hunt preceded by a sickening scale up the Golden Gate Bridge that had left Eddie nauseous and dizzy. (Venom had taken over any necessary food intake for the next day, the mere thought of it had Eddie’s stomach revolting. Housing a symbiote in your body may come with incredibly enhanced healing abilities but his queasy stomach is still Eddie’s own problem.)

Venom doesn’t answer but Eddie can feel him at the small of his back. The spot has become one of Venom’s favourites as of late and Eddie wonders why but he doesn’t mind; it’s a bit like an ever-present gentle hand there, an intimate touch. (Not that Eddie has any experience or scientific knowledge of where in a human body an alien symbiote would feel most comfortable. He’s not going to complain if Venom stays in this particular place more often, though. It’s a nice feeling.)

“Look, I’m not angry” he tries, if only to get a reaction out of his companion. “Well, I do mind but it’s not like this is the first time.” Venom has made quite a track record for himself sabotaging Eddie’s dates. Eddie painfully remembers each and every unpleasant incident. He does have an inkling as to the reason for Venom’s behaviour but he hasn’t had the heart to breach the topic yet. After their heavy fight the fifth time one of Eddie’s nights out had gone up in metaphorical flames, Venom had taken to sulking and fuming semi-quietly somewhere in the vicinity of Eddie’s ribs during every following attempt at romantically or sexually motivated social interaction with another human being.

Eddie doesn’t know if Venom actually thinks Eddie would just shake him off and leave him. Even if he could – Venom would find him, wherever he went, he’s sure of that – he knows he’d stay. They’ve found a rhythm after the first tumultuous weeks and despite everything Eddie likes it. He meant what he said, he has no problem with his new alien friend sticking around. It’s not just because he’s grown used to a second voice in his head – he genuinely likes Venom and the weird dynamic they have.

“He was decent guy and I would have liked to see him again” he continues, not paying much attention to the volume of his voice. There are not that many people around at this hour and those who pass him by are too disinterested to notice a man talking to himself. “Thanks for crossing that option off the list.”

**_You’re welcome._ **

“That was not a—” Eddie throws his hands up in exasperation. “I wasn’t expressing my gratitude, Vee.”

**_He needed to see our true face._ **

“No, he really, really absolutely definitely didn’t.” Eddie wants to smack his forehead – maybe it’d lessen the ridiculousness of this conversation – but he refrains, knowing it’d sent Venom hissing and growling. Venom hasn’t gone this far before – he’s crossed the line in many other very creative ways but this was the cherry on top. And still Eddie can’t find it in himself to be angry at him. He’s beginning to think he’s the architect of his own misery.

“It was going well” he presses on, not ready to concede the point yet. He might have a soft spot where his alien partner-in-crime-and-taking-down-thugs-and-corrupt-politicians is concerned but there are boundaries. “Until you decided to almost bite his damn lip off.”

**_He was getting covetous._ **

Eddie stops dead in his tracks, eyes wide in disbelief. “He was getting _what?!_ You have no right, absolutely no fucking right to talk about possessiveness, my friend.” He’s starting to raise his voice and the woman exiting the shop to his right throws him a concerned look. Eddie pays her no mind. “You don’t get to throw that word around, buddy.”

The skin at his back prickles as Venom moves, rushing up and around him, expanding and settling in his chest, rumbling threateningly.

Eddie scoffs. “I’m disappointed” he says. “You went too far this time. I’m disappointed with you, Vee.”

The symbiote goes entirely still for a second before he sends an angry pulse up and down Eddie’s veins and scampers off to pout curled up tight in Eddie’s side. The echo of the powerful wave of emotion trips Eddie up and he almost stumbles over an empty beer can lying forlornly on the street. The aluminium clatters and the can rolls off the curb in a semicircle as Eddie flails to regain his balance. He swears under his breath, wondering what on earth brought that on as he gets his feet in order, glancing around for any witnesses to the pathetic display of the human tragedy that he is. A few feet down the street a hot dog vendor is packing up for the day, having waited in vain for some late-night customers. As always, the world isn’t interested in him when he’s not Eddie Brock the investigative journalist.

Eddie heaves a heavy sigh and walks on, steering them home. Shaking his head he mutters to himself as he walks, not the foggiest idea what he’s supposed to do with this. There are days when their interactions, their routine almost feels like domesticity. Granted, their conversational topics of choice might seem odd and vaguely disconcerting to an outsider but Eddie enjoys their affectionately insulting banter. Venom has his very own sense of humour (and morality) but they understand each other. It’s in their nature, being as close to each other as they are. As soon as Eddie wanders off, however, putting so much as a single thought to activities that don’t include Venom in some way, the emotional waves he receives are laden with dissatisfaction and annoyance and it doesn’t help that he feels his companion’s irritation like his own. To say it’s dampening his mood is the understatement of the century. It’s frustrating and Eddie’s rather rapidly coming up empty-handed when digging for ways how to deal with his ill-tempered pile of alien slime.

Above all, though, whatever may stand between them, Eddie knows he can rely on Venom to look after him. Smug, snarky, sulking extraterrestrial bastard that he is.

So what if he gets a little overly protective of his human from time to time?

Eddie bites his lip. He’s being unfair. “I’m sorry I said that” he mumbles, apologetic. “Vee? “ No response. “Hey, Venom? Come on, buddy, we’re a team. We’ll figure this out.”

When there’s still no movement under his skin Eddie gives up and fishes around his pocket for his phone. Usually Venom pipes up when Eddie mentions _them._ A pleased shiver or an approving ripple of contentment. Tonight, though, there’s nothing.

Eddie ploughs through his contacts, thinking about calling Annie (Venom never complains when they go to see Anne). Just for a friendly chat, to get his mind off those probing thoughts. His thumb hovers over the call button but then he decides against it. He doesn’t want to bother her with their domestic quarrels. Surrendering himself to another night of getting the silent treatment he browses the news for anything interesting, not paying much attention to the path of his feet. Venom usually keeps them from running into lamp posts, momentarily taking control over Eddie’s limbs. When he gets an angry “Watch it!” thrown his way and promptly very nearly collides with a traffic light he knows that tonight, he’s on his own.

Eddie braces himself against the chilled steely post and rubs his forehead. Cautiously, he reaches out with his thoughts, sending a tentative question but it merely bounces back at him. His brows knit together, pulling down in a frown. He feels a little rejected.

Not knowing what else to do, Eddie grits his teeth and rounds the corner, reverting to his last resort. He’s positive his chocolate stash at home is still sizeable but he’s hoping if he stops by Mrs Chen’s to buy a few of Venom’s favourites, his partner will acknowledge the white flag and accept his peace offering.

Attention darting back to his phone, Eddie ambles down the street, occasionally looking up so he won’t bump into and potentially aggravate any more pedestrians – he really isn’t in the mood for a fight tonight. A few wayward drops splashing onto the illuminated screen of his phone announce the oncoming rain and Eddie stops to blink up into the greyish-blue night sky. As if the day wasn’t already sufficiently ruined. Using the sleeve of his sweater he wipes the water off his phone. But just as he lifts his hands to put on his hood (and preferably draw it low over his face; he’s seen enough of this godforsaken world for one day) he’s stopped in his movements, his arms being lowered by a gentle force. Eddie looks up in a silent sort of wonder as tendrils snake around his collarbone and climb upwards, anchoring on his neck and shoulders, knotting together to form an inky canopy over his head. A smile ghosts around his lips as he watches. That’s new. Venom revealing himself in public. They stick to the rule of _better safe than sorry_ and stay under the radar lest the national news explode with blurry footage of The Man-eating Monster of San Francisco.

“Does that mean I’m forgiven?” Eddie asks with a chuckle, wondering why the hell he is asking for his symbiote’s forgiveness. Sure, the concept is foreign to Venom but it should be the other way around, really.

 ** _I am merely concerned for our health. I don’t want you to catch those nasty viruses again._** Venom’s voice in his head is slightly softer than usual and Eddie’s half-smile morphs into a grin.

“Sure, that’s all there is to it” he laughs, feeling oddly relieved. Eddie catches himself sometimes – and it feels like he’s run into a brick wall, the sudden collision giving him clarity – cherishing the way Venom cares for him and it’s the little things that get him. Not firmly grasping him in the freefall out of a multi-storey building when they had to break into someone’s office to get the proof Eddie needed for his story and the only way out without running into security was out the window, but drawing up the blankets around his shoulders when he’s already half-asleep, staggering from the front door straight to his bed. Telling him (rather determinedly) to rest when he’s been working on a report for hours on end. Sure, there’s a lot of nagging and getting on Eddie’s nerves, too, calling him names and mocking his fear of heights. But the underlying consideration bears a sweetness that Eddie tends to overlook sometimes.

When it comes down to it, they’re both petulant children whining when they don’t get what they want. But they’re a support for each other and they care and when Eddie squints up at his floating symbiote-umbrella again, thin threads of rain now pouring down around him, he thinks it is terribly sweet, in a way.

It means they’re okay.

Eddie breathes a sigh of relief and smiles to himself and promptly overlooks the bus shelter suddenly towering before him.

 ** _Clumsy,_** Venom chides as he takes over and pilots them around it.

“Shut up” Eddie teases, not willing to lose his still tentative grip on the sliver of good mood and their regained familiarity. “You love me, anyway.”

Eddie doesn’t have time to register the words falling from his mouth or the shocked, caught-out silence in his head as he hears someone gasp in surprise to his right and he turns. An elderly lady is standing under the shelter, turquoise umbrella held over her intricate hairdo, mouth agape as she stares at Eddie.

His brain catching up with the situation, Eddie scrambles for words, “I have a p—” _Possessive alien boyfriend_ comes to mind instead of his usual excuse – Venom still takes offence at being (very lovingly) called a parasite – but that doesn’t quite hit the mark. And— hold that thought. Eddie gapes at the old lady who’s still eyeing him with a mixture of shock and disbelief, then slowly, as if making sure he’s still in control over his body, turns his head to view himself in the reflection of the bus shelter’s glass walls, illuminated by the glowing advertisements on either side. He stares at himself, filtering his last thought and he can’t tell if the giddy thrill interwoven with anxious anticipation that feels like a bated breath are his own or Venom’s or _theirs._

He suddenly feels extraordinarily stupid and foolish.

Without warning, the structure over his head bursts like a punctured balloon and Venom flees under the safe cover of Eddie’s hoodie. Rain washes down on him and the water soaks his hair, his skin, his clothes in seconds. The cold rush catapults Eddie back into reality and he holds his hands up in apology, still processing the terribly timed epiphany, stammering, “…problem with my… nanotechnology experiment.”

The elderly lady just continues to watch him in concerned astonishment and Eddie falls silent, momentarily taken aback by his own improvised creativity. Everyone in the whole damn country and beyond knows Tony Stark and _his_ nanotechnological inventions but Eddie isn’t sure how much it clarifies right in this instant. He doesn’t exactly look like a man who regularly has tea with Iron Man let alone access to multi-million dollar technology and more like a stranded, horribly confused bloke who’s just realised that the alien he shares his body with has a crush on him that, on top of it all, is most likely requited (Eddie’s train of thought hasn’t quite travelled that far yet).

Deciding that leaving it at that and just disappearing into the encroaching night is the most reasonable thing to do right now, Eddie takes a few steps back, bumps into the side of the shelter, swears, and then manages to coordinate his feet enough to flee the scene.

He walks, resolutely silent and at a brisk pace, heart beating wildly in his chest. His thoughts race but he still feels as if he’s collided head-first with a truck. In his mind, Venom seems to mimic his behaviour, quiet and settled at the small of his back again. The spot is radiating nervousness but a comforting warmth, too, and Eddie slows down, scraping together the sad shreds of his dignity, resolving to face this like he does his work. Head-on.

“So, uh… Vee?” He cringes at the sound of his own voice, feeble and everything but confident.

An answering hum reverberates through his body, sending a shiver up his spine that makes the hairs on his neck stand. It feels just as insecure as Eddie himself.

“Does that mean we’re… you know…?” he trails off, knowing that Venom has seen his thoughts, Eddie’s mental defences torn down by the jack-hammering onslaught of incredulity.

The reply comes without hesitation, still tentative but clear in its intention. **_If you want._**

Realising that contrary to his typical fashion Venom is leaving him a choice, giving him an out if he wants it, Eddie blushes furiously. He hides in his soaked hoodie.

It’s a dive straight into the great unknown, probably dangerous and definitely really fucking terrifying but what in the past six months of his life hasn’t been? It’d just be another new thing among the many he has allowed to happen, has committed himself to over the course of the past half year. But it’s also a promise of warmth, of proximity of a kind so absolute and reckless Eddie will never again have the chance to experience if he backs out now. They’re a _We_ and without being aware of it Eddie now knows he’s always known that he doesn’t want it any other way.

Eddie realises that he’s considering it which means he’s not repulsed by the idea and then realises he’s _been_ thinking about it for a while, subconsciously.

“How would that work?” he finds himself asking but he doesn’t need an answer. They’ll figure it out as they go, just as they’ve made up the road as they went along the entire time.

Venom makes his agreement known, having sensed his thoughts. The symbiote crawls up from that spot at the small of Eddie’s back and Eddie suddenly _gets_ it. An intimate touch. He bristles, reeling slightly with the revelation, and he thinks he can feel Venom’s eternal smugness returning as the symbiote swarms out across the expanse of his shoulders, rippling with happy satisfaction.

“Yeah, yeah, go on, laugh at me” Eddie mutters, feeling a flush creep up his neck.

 ** _Not laughing,_** Venom rumbles, but quickly adds, **_for now_** , and now he definitely sounds smug.

The rain has stopped and the air smells fresh but Eddie feels uncomfortable in his soaked hoodie, the damp fabric clinging to his skin. He shivers as a sharp gust of wind blows through the street and he picks up his pace again, drawn by the questionable, moody warmth of his apartment.

Sensing his discomfort, Venom wraps a little tighter around his chest and before Eddie knows what’s happening, black tendrils emerge from underneath his sweater, slinking up and gently winding around his neck in the imitation of a scarf. Venom sits snug against his skin, warm and pleasant and Eddie smiles, wriggling a bit to nestle into it further.

 ** _Eddie?_** Venom purrs when they reach their building and Eddie trudges up the stairs.

“Hm?”

**_Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie._ **

Eddie chuckles, amused and a little charmed. “Yes, Vee?”

**_I do._ **

(Eddie’s brain rewinds to his carelessly dropped words and he drops his keys.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts! Happy Halloween!
> 
> [My Tumblr.](http://atravellingsoldierstaleofwinter.tumblr.com/) Drop me a line if you like :)


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